We had a great turnout for the State 4 Wall Singles Championship Sunday (April 22) with 34 players. This new one day format seemed to be enjoyed by all. We used a round-robin or pool play into brackets format. This format allowed a lot of action against different players. All games were to 15 points – win by 2 – with a max of 21 pts. Here are the results by Division:

70s

In the 70s, we had 5 players and played a round robin. Mike Howe was the champion going undefeated 4-0 earning his first state singles title. Tom Myers finished second with one loss to Mike). Charlie Doyle finished 3rd at 2-2. Bob Kozak and Dave Dodds (age 79) rounded out the division. It is amazing to watch these guys play at the level they do.

60s

In the 60s, we had 8 players who competed in two pools of 4. Players had 1 game vs each player in their pool. (Pools were seeded) The pool winners faced each other for the title.

Pool A was Joe Ivy, Duane Costanzo, Angus McIntyre and Bob Balch. Bob Balch and Joe Ivy were able to win their games vs McIntyre to face each other. It was a back and forth battle with Joe finding some nice corner cracks to pull it out 15-10. With Balch beating Costanzo and Costanzo beating McIntyre, it came down to Costanzo vs Ivy for the pool title. An Ivy win would send him into the finals. A win by Costanzo would force a 3 way tie and points would determine the pool winner. Ivy and Costanzo battled for over 40 mins with Ivy pulling out the win 15-13.

Pool B was Jim Lowe, Ed Green, Jim LaFluer and Bobby Straetmans. Jim Lowe and Ed Green played the opening game and it looked like a replay of the 3 Wall state 60s final. Jim eventually pulled away to win the match. Ed then battled Total Sports owner and gracious host Bobby Straetmans. The home courts for Bobby paid off. Once he warmed up he recovered from an early deficit and pulled away for the win. Lowe defeated LaFluer to move to 2-0 and faced Straetmans. Bobby was well aware of numerous previous losses to Jim and cranked up his volley/dig and re-kill game to beat Lowe. Jim LaFluer got by Ed Green 15-13 and faced Bobby for the pool title. A win by LaFluer would force a 3 way tie and total points would decide it. Bobby kept up his strong play beating Jim and winning the pool going 3-0.

The finals were set with two undefeated players - Joe Ivy vs Bobby Straetmans. The finals were all Bobby as he stayed in his zone on his home courts to earn his first state age group singles title with a 15-5 win.

Open/50s/A

21 players competed in the remaining draw including the Kader family who drove in from Grand Rapids. Ramzey, Rick and Adam all competed in their first State tournament. We appreciate them making the long drive and playing in this event.

5 pools were created with one pool consisting of 5 players in the 50s division and 4 pools of seeded players. Again – all games were 15 points – win by 2. Each player played one game against everyone in their pool.

The winners of each pool advanced into the open division 8 player elimination bracket. 3 Wild cards based on record and most points completed the 8 man Open Division. Places 9-16 after pool play moved into an 8 man A division bracket. Places 17-21 played into a consolation bracket.

Open/50s

In the 50s pool, Craig Sickmiller went undefeated to win the 50s and moved into the open Division to face Pete Brown in the round of 8. Brown, Pete Dembeck and Pat Myers won their pools all going undefeated (3-0). In the last pool, Rick Leonard and Ryan Inman battled for the pool title with Inman pulling out the win 15-13. Inman moved into the round of 8 along with Leonard as a wild card. Ben Hall and Adam Kader completed the open division as wild cards by going 2-1 in pool play and earning the most points.

In the round of 8 Dembeck and Inman both advanced winning 15-4 to face each other. Inman defeated Ben Hall and Dembeck defeated Adam Kader. In the other side of the bracket, there were very tight battles. Pat Myers edged Rick Leonard 15-13. Pet Brown beat Craig Sickmiller 15-7. Brown then edged Myers 15-13 setting up the final vs Dembeck.

The Open final did not disappoint with a back and forth game. Dembeck returned Brown’s tough serves and each player only found a few aces. Most points were decided with tough rally play. At 14 all, Dembeck secured point 15. Brown thought the match was over but we reminded him it was “win by two points” in this format. He dug deep and got back the serve and forced overtime at 15. He got another point and served for the match at 16-15. However, Dembeck showed no quit and won the potential match point rally. Dembeck got back in the service box to earn 3 straight points and pull out the State title with an 18-16 victory.

A

In the A Division bracket, Nick Lowe was the one seed finishing 1 point out of making the Open Division. Nick Lowe cruised through round 1 beating Nick Stachurski 15-2. He then faced Joe Green who pulled that one out 15-4.

In the other side of the A bracket, Rick Kader beat Ted Grammatico 15-9. Kader then faced Tim Thompson. Tim beat Rick 15-8 to set up the A final vs Joe Green.

The A final did not disappoint with another overtime match. Tim Thompson pulled it out 17-15 for the A Division title.